Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Hadal
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I wake up gently, greeting yet another morning that's far from refreshing.
I roughly tidy my messy hair, open the fridge to grab a bottle of water, and chug it down.
After downing the water, I head to the bathroom, turn on the faucet to wash my face, then wipe the moisture away with a towel while staring into the mirror.
"Ugh... I still can't get used to this."
A soft voice slips from my lips. A high-pitched, delicate woman's voice.
"Every time I see it, it's like the first time."
And the reflection staring back at me is the cute little girl's face I can never get accustomed to, no matter how many times I look.
A dainty face dotted with perfectly placed eyes, nose, and mouth.
Jet-black hair that shines brilliantly like polished obsidian, and blue eyes that seem to hold the ocean itself.
A pert little nose and an adorably small mouth.
"I'm no narcissist, but damn..."
Anyone would call this cute and charming girl. Sure, the mind inside is a filthy, ugly man's, but let's gloss over that.
Back in the day, I must've doubted a hundred times a day if this girl was really me.
"Sigh..."
Whatever. It doesn't matter now.
I lean against the bathroom wall, pull a cigarette from my pocket, light it up quietly, and savor the nicotine's aroma.
This building's mine anyway, so who cares.
It's only three stories, but so what? I'm the landlord.
If the landlord wants to smoke in his own building, anyone annoyed can just leave.
"Hoo... Status window."
I exhale a thick plume of smoke and mutter the words.
A blue holographic status window unfolds before my eyes.
With the cigarette dangling from my lips, I swipe it down.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📛 Name: Yeon Mu
💼 Job: Magic Bullet Shooter
🛠 Skills: Magic Bullet Shooter (EX), Overdrive (S), Thought Acceleration (A), Weapon Transformation (A), No Man’s Land (EX)
📜 Quest: Magic Bullet Shooter
"...That damn quest."
I scroll the status window down and tap the quest at the bottom.
📜 QUEST: MAGIC BULLET SHOOTER 📜 There were seven magic bullets. Six belonged to the shooter, one to the devil. Six struck true, but the last flies as I will it. Weak-willed shooter, load the magic bullet. We shall meet again soon... in hell. 🎯 Objective: Kill at least one hunter per month
📊 Progress: 48/???
☠️ Failure: Death
⏰ Time Remaining: 293h 31m 41s
Magic Bullet Shooter.
My job title, one of my most powerful skills, and the reason I started taking assassination contracts.
If I don't kill at least one hunter every month, I die.
And it kindly shows the time until death.
"293 hours... that's about two weeks left, right?"
24 hours a day... yeah, a little under two weeks.
It used to be tough back then, but not so much anymore. Still, having to kill one per month on the dot is a real pain in the ass.
"Sigh, plenty of time left. Maybe I'll just chill?"
I close the pathetic status window floating in front of me, tap the ash off my cigarette, and toss it in the trash.
Then I wash my hands, step out of the bathroom, and sit down at the computer.
Killing innocent people feels worse than offing scumbag criminals, so I usually take requests and hit those targets.
It makes it easier to justify to myself.
"Wonder if any requests came in..."
I boot up the computer, go online, and search for 'Deep Sea Fish Minor Gallery.'
A dead gallery that barely gets one or two posts a day.
I click on the pinned announcement that's been there for three years: 'Deep Sea Anglerfish Photo.'
"This thing looks like absolute shit."
The usual ugly deep-sea anglerfish pic.
To the naked eye, just a normal JPG.
"Well, on the surface, yeah."
But the truth is different.
I append '/?exec=true' to the URL and hit enter.
The anglerfish's black eyes suddenly expand across the screen.
The monitor glitches, flipping the site's colors from white to blood-red.
Cute fish icons vanish, replaced by crude categories: 'Weapons,' 'Requests,' 'Info.'
[This service requires login] A signup and login prompt pops up over the crimson screen.
I click login out of habit, enter my ID and password, and hit enter.
A red timer appears in the center.
[Remaining Time: 09:59] [Entry Fee: $1,500 (Market Rate: 0.82 ETH / 7.5 XMR)] But there's a problem.
"Fuck, why'd the entry fee go up?!"
This shitty operator jacked it up by $100!
What site charges $1,500 just to enter? That's over two million won, and they want it for access. Are they insane?
Sure, it's once a month, but still.
"Fucking expensive..."
I open my digital wallet out of habit, copy the one-time 34-character random address, and paste it.
Hit send, and a loading bar fills slowly as the funds launder through the blockchain.
[Transaction approved. Mixing complete.] The locked gallery board list unlocks.
Deep in the shadows of the deep sea, the underbelly of the underbelly.
A community for hit jobs, drug smuggling, porn, kidnappings, torture, arms deals—anything dirty you can think of.
Hadal.
— a4f2_User (Node: KOR) | Views: 101 | Likes: 0 Operator, you raised it by 100 bucks? Have you lost your mind? — 58x_User (Node: RUS) | Views: 201 | Likes: 2 Admin fuck. Price hike again? Crazy bastard. — 8848_User (Node: CN) | Views: 3412 | Likes: 31 Dog admin, raised it by 100 bucks? Are you money-mad?
"Same old here."
Posts in Korean, English, Chinese, and more.
Usually it's just 10-50 bucks hikes, so jumping 100 is a bit much.
But the boards are full of randos—no high-nics in sight.
Shady or straight, big drama's always the randos' domain.
"Where's... the requests..."
I click the 'Requests' tab at the top and enter my ID.
Requests sent to my nickname pop up.
[Welcome, Tree Tree.] [Current requests for Tree Tree: 19]
"Whoa, more than I thought?"
Usually 5-7 pile up. Weirdly, 19 today.
"This one's a pass, this too."
Over half are crap from randos.
"Find my lost cat in Russia from the US?"
How the hell? If it fled across continents, let it go.
"Pass, pass..."
Dungeon requests and civilian hits? Nope.
Dungeons carry risk—too dangerous, and records might stick even if I clear 'em.
Civilians? Why bother?
"Status window."
I pull up the status to check the quest.
📜 QUEST: MAGIC BULLET SHOOTER 📜 There were seven magic bullets. Six belonged to the shooter, one to the devil. Six struck true, but the last flies as I will it. Weak-willed shooter, load the magic bullet. We shall meet again soon... in hell. 🎯 Objective: Kill at least one hunter per month
📊 Progress: 48/???
☠️ Failure: Death
⏰ Time Remaining: 293h 29m 39s
The quest specifies 'hunters,' not just any human.
Civilians don't count.
So civilian hits? Pass.
"Hmm... Oh?"
Deleting one after another, one request catches my eye.
——
— A9f12_User Please kill Sword Princess.
> A-rank hunter Sword Princess from Lotus Guild.
> Advance: 500 million won, Success: 1.5 billion won.
> Payment via site escrow operator.
——
"Not bad."
Target: A-rank hunter Sword Princess.
I've heard of her.
Gorgeous face matched by equally trash personality. Famous for it.
"500 mil advance, 1.5 bil on success... Worth a shot."
Rando poster bugs me, but escrow advance means it's legit. Operator would flag cops.
"Alright, let's do it."
A-rank counts for the quest, and... might be fun.
I send a PM accepting.
- Tree Tree: By 3 PM today, send 500 mil won / 2500 Monero (2500 XMR) to 88aa-x9f2-00k1-q5z9.
Message sent. Time to browse the gallery.
"Nothing good."
Morning lull? Or cop crackdowns... Tch.
"Eh."
No dice. I exit requests, log out of Hadal.
Back to the Deep Sea Fish Minor Gallery.
"Ugly as fuck."
The anglerfish pic returns.
Every time, I think: truly hideous.
"Anything fun?"
I search 'Hunter Gallery' online.
"Whoa..."
Click the top result.
Biggest legit gallery—packed with people.
——
-Sword Princess seriously needs to fix her personality [2] -Today's Sword Princess personality controversy JPG [8] -What the hell is Lotus doing not kicking out that bitch? [2] -Sword Princess past scandal dig: Used porters as bait in dungeon and survived alone!? Holy shit [8] -Lotus dogs getting nervous? [13] ——
"Even here, Sword Princess drama's blowing up."
Never cared much, but damn, she has enemies.
Beep
A machine tone rings while scrolling.
Check wallet, just in case.
"Oh, money's in."
500 mil, really here.
Super fast.
It's 10:31 AM. Told 'em by 3 PM... How much does she piss 'em off?
"Well, her story ends today anyway."
Money secured. Time to move.
I grab a massive anti-materiel rifle from the wall corner.
Infuse it with mana, shrinking the beast into a compact pistol.
Tuck it in my waistband, throw on some clothes and shoes, and head out.
"Ahhhhhh~!"
I stretch big, stepping into the crisp morning sun.
"Feels great~"
Heh.
Chicken for dinner tonight.